Six Word Memoir

Procrastination is the key to success. -at least for me it is. If I am not working under pressure, then I tend to not work at all, most people tend to deny their procrastination habits, but I embrace it!

What is Luxury?

In my opinion, luxury is something that is ultimately unnecessary. Anything that doesn't consist of ones basic needs of food, shelter and clothing can be considered luxurious, especially if you look at the world as a whole, not just the western world that most of us are used to. I believe it is unnecessary because I look at all of the people in the world who are homeless, or malnourished, and there are so many things that would be considered luxuries to them, rather then just thinking of nice cars or the latest and greatest kitchen appliance. I personally try to buy things that I don't really need as least as possible, but I think most all of us are guilty of doing it. I think it is because it is made so readily available to us all, and it is extremely socially acceptable to over-consume.                                                                                                                         
I think this over-consumption is socially acceptable because it seems to be embedded in the "American Dream" mentality of getting rich quick. America has often been seen as the land of opportunity because of ones ability to make a good living and buy nice things. I think the whole "buy nice things" aspect of this idea has been turned into the "Sudden Wealth Syndrome" that Twitchell mentioned. Material items are constantly being sold with the illusion that they are high-class or luxurious, at Wal-Mart or Target for example. Even with the downturn of the economy, people still seek out these luxurious items that they don't need at all, but they buy them anyway.

This ad is a good example of this hunger for "luxurious" but useless items that people are buying by the boatloads. It is an ad for a Lexus that ties in with the idea of the American dream and the need for the latest and greatest, and it says "I make my own dreams come true". Most people who buy new cars buy them simply because of the "new" factor, even if the car they currently have is perfectly fine. It is ads like these that persuade buyers into buying or leasing a new car even if they don't need one.

What's "in" and What's not

In my opinion, advertising agencies and the companies whose products they are selling are the ones who deciphers this for us. I would like to think that everyone would be content with the clothing they have if they weren't constantly being pressured to look a certain way, or buy a certain brand. I believe brand image is nearly a facade created by these multi-million dollar companies to keep us as the consumers buying more. Without our spending power they would literally have no income whatsoever, so it seems they have to figure out ways to keep us coming back. Each individual company spend millions on creating their image, whether it's the naked, young looking people on Abercrombie ads or the Nike ads that make it seem like you are going to be an Olympic gold medalist if you wear their product. It seems as if they are trying to sell a perfect image that suits a particular lifestyle, rather than the product itself.

All this hype about the latest and greatest clothing that is completely unnecessary baffles me because it seems some kind of top secret fashion agency is conjuring up these different fads and throwing them out at us as if we couldn't think of what to wear ourselves. For example, here is an ad by Abercrombie and Fitch portrays three people, two girls and a guy, with minimal to no clothing in the actual picture, if this didn't say Abercrombie and Fitch on it I would just figure it was a picture of three random people. The point being here is that they are selling their image, which in turn will sell their product, because if you buy their product, you are automatically young and good-looking.

As far as the influence on cultural values that selling these types of images goes, I think that these very images that we are surrounded by every day have a huge impact on how we view ourselves and others. If certain images of "beauty" are put in front of our eyes everyday, we become accustomed to thinking that's just the way it is. The power these ads have over what we buy is immense because they are the very thing that are creating the illusion that we have to buy it in order to fit in.